Is there a customer service disconnect between what organisations say they want and what customers say they are getting?

Some news just out based on a survey by Virtual Hold Technology shows as we have said that there is a difference between what organisations are saying they are doing about customer service and what is actually happening. This disconnect is most evident in that the survey has found that whilst organisations are saying that customer service is a top priority, their customers are not supporting this.

Before looking at the data in more detail, it is worth reminding ourselves that the benefits of good customer service are threefold:
1. Increased customer loyalty, leading to;
2. Increasing number of further purchases; and
3. Increased numbers of spontaneous brand recommendations

The survey had responses from 500 adults found that 9 out of 10 said that that a positive customer experience would increase their loyalty. Just over half said that they do not want to be kept waiting on hold if someone is not available to speak to them. They would prefer a call back rather than be kept waiting.

There was some signs of a trend towards Social Media usage and in a separate piece of work VHT identified that there were over 4,500 tweets a day being broadcast by customers being kept waiting on hold.

The underlying problem is that customer service should be on everyone’s lips in an organisation but then move from a spoken promise into action. Sometimes we wonder if the reason customer service is not prioritised is that it is often overly simplified. It is not simply about smiling, although having an appropriately welcoming and friendly approach to clients is part of the mix.

Co-ordinating speed of response across different channels with the right people, who have had the right training, is a complex piece of work. All too often we see the over simplification of what real and meaningful customer service is.  This is why we developed our Employee Customer Interface© model, the ECI© model which embraces the whole of the challenge. You can find out more about our ECI© model here.